A Cumbrian couple have been left devastated after their dream home went up in flames just months before they were due to move in.
Lesley Blogg and her husband Tom Horne bought Home Park Barn at Brownber, Newbiggin-on-Lune, in May 2017 and started work in the following January.
Tom, 43, had been working to convert the barn into the couple’s ideal home ever since. But on March 9 this year, their world was turned upside down.
An unexplained fire ripped through the barn, leaving only the walls remaining and causing around £250,000 in damage.
“I got up at seven o’clock and I thought I could smell smoke,” said Lesley, 48, outlining the moment she realised something was wrong.
“Ten minutes later I could see smoke coming from the storage end of the barn. I panicked and ran and rang 999. I came back out of the caravan and there was a huge amount of flames coming out of the barn.
“It then started burning through the roof.”
After moving the family dogs and their farm animals, the situation then began to sink in.
The pair had already bought two previous properties and renovated them before selling them on. The third property – Home Park Barn – was going to be for them.
“We hoped to stay here, it was going to be our forever home,” said Lesley.
“We have worked hard since we were in our 20s to get to where we are. We are both self-employed and we have no pensions.
“Everything we have got sunk in that property. I thought, ‘I’m going to lose everything’. I watched it burn.
“There was just shock, utter disbelief and devastation. I wake up and think, ‘I need to do this in the barn’, then I realise.
“It is one of those things you don’t think will happen to you.”
Lesley, who is a freelance medical writer and scientist, is hoping that the pair will raise enough money from the insurance payout and from a fundraiser set up by her friend to allow them to pay a contractor to do the work this time around.
“I don’t think Tom can do that again. I don’t want him doing it on his own again, it is soul-destroying,” said Lesley.
“He was devastated, it was all his work.”
Lost foal
The impact on the couple has gone far beyond the initial devastation.
“We have a mare who was in foal (at the time of the fire) and she has lost her foal, so on Sunday, we had to bury a baby horse,” said Lesley.
“It has been one thing after another. It is lovely sunshine at the moment but it is very difficult not to be depressed.
“We are stuck in our caravan which is falling apart. I said I wouldn’t have another winter in this caravan but now we’ll be spending another winter in there.”
Watch a video detailing the work done to renovate the barn prior to the fire
Despite the tricky situation, Lesley has been overwhelmed by the support they’ve received.
“We’ve had so much support from local people, people have been amazing. People have come round and brought us food.
“My friend told me we need to set up a GoFundMe page. We were reticent, we thought there is so much going on in the world at the moment.
“But she said, ‘people will want to help you’. She set it up and it’s been quite humbling. A lot of people have sent us money to help with things and it will all help.
“There are some very caring people in the county.”
It’s not just people in Cumbria who have been rallying behind the couple.
“As a scientist in diving medicine, which has conferences all over the world, so I have friends all over the world,” added Lesley.
“They all want to help.”
Lesley and Tom must now wait to hear back from the insurance company who will provide an estimate of how much they believe the couple are entitled to.
